


Back to Humanity

by orphan_account



Category: The Walking Dead (Comics), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempted Sexual Assault, Carl Grimes was raised by dogs, Dehumanised!Carl, Dehumanization, Dwight practically adopts Carl, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Getting to Know Each Other, Learning to talk again, M/M, Negan finds it funny at first, Negan tries to help, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Depression, Socialisation, Then it stops being funny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-10-24 02:41:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10732467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Carl wasn't alone out there, yeah, he hadn't seen another human being this close in years, he had been so isolated that he lost some of his human capabilities. But that didn't meant he was alone, he had the dogs, they fed him, protected him, kept him warm when it was time to sleep. It wasn't a good life, but it was better than death.He was what you could call  happy, or at least he thought he was until he got caught by a group of humans, which leader found it interesting to have him as a 'pet'.Goodbye dogs.Goodbye outside world.Hello Humanity.





	1. Goodnight Atlanta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh don't worry, your child is doing fine  
> You're much too busy to even find the time  
> Just go and escape now, just go and look away.  
> The boy you left will be a be a man no one had raise.

His memory, or what remained of it, was a gap of faces, names, scents and sounds. Part of his humanity was long gone between animal growls and the putrid smell of rotten human meat, but he still remembered the day when he, as well as a lot of people, lost it all.

It had all started with soldiers going from house to house to tell people from the suburbs that they had to evacuate. But he and his mom didn't got told about it by the soldiers, but by Shane, who was eager on taking them out of there.

His dad's friend had walked into their house without knocking, when Lori went to ask what was going on, Shane didn't gave her time to talk, he told her that he had just come back from the hospital, that Rick was dead and that they had to pack and leave as quick as possible. Everything said in front of the 10 years old boy.

Carl didn't got time to cry, he didn't wanted to either. Maybe it was because of the shock produced by knowing about his father's death that way, but he decided to focus on packing so they could leave while his mom looked for comfort into Shane's arms, the same way she had done since Rick was at the hospital. He did his best to focus completely on the here and now while Lori got her shit together and started packing everything that they would need, plus some family albums. Once they got everything packed, Shane drove them out of the suburbs to try and get out of the city and be safe and far from whatever that was happening.

Shane had committed the error of driving to the principal road, which thousands of people had thought about and, because of that, they had for the apples in traffic, right in front of the forest. The cars stopped moving once it got dark.

Most of the people had climbed down their cars and had started talking to each other, even Lori had started chatting with a woman that had a fragile aspect and short gray hair. But his mom stopped paying attention to her when Shane walked closer, maybe too close, and whispered to her. Lori walked to Carl and kneeled in front of him.

“Carl, I want you to stay here with Carol, okay?” she told him, rubbing his cheek and pointing at the woman she had just been talking to. “Shane and I will be back in a while.”

“Where are you going?” Carl asked, he was too naive to notice the weird looks Shane was giving his mom and the way her cheeks flushed as she bit her lip.

“I'll go take a walk with Shane, we'll see why the cars aren't moving” Lori kissed his forehead and messed with his hair a little, smiling. “Be good, I love you.”

“I love you too, mommy” he said, Lori hugged him, she could count with the fingers of one hand the times Carl called her ‘mommy’.

She pulled away and walked to be by Shane's side, this time Carl noticed how Shane wrapped an arm around Lori's waist, but he thought that maybe it was something friends did. His mom and Shane were friends, just like Rick and Shane had been, there was nothing else there, right?

“Keep an eye on my car, kiddo” Shane told him, smiling at him before leaving with Lori.

Carl ended up playing cards with Carol's daughter, Sophia, which mom looked like she was already friends with Lori and which dad wasn't nice with them and wouldn't stop smoking and blowing his smoke everywhere, making Carl's head hurt.

It had been almost an hour of calm before the explosions started, Carl --unlike Sophia-- felt curiosity by the loud noises and went out of the car they were sitting in to to and see what was going on. What he saw made him which that he hadn't moved from his seat.

Atlanta, the city that had been his home since a really young age, the place where his dad's --according to Shane-- corpse was, still at the hospital.

Everyone was looking at the same direction, at the city that was now being bombed by planes that, because of the darkness from the night, couldn't be seen, but they were easy to hear. Carl would never forget the noise one of those planes made when it flown low.

The bombing lasted for about forty minutes in which everyone did nothing but watch the scene in shock. When the explosions finally stopped, the road remained stone quiet. That's how everyone stayed, in a shocked silence, until the screams begun.

Everyone started running in the opposite direction of the city, Carl stayed where he was, not understanding why everyone was running away. He heard his mom's voice and felt her grabbing his arm and making him turn to start running as fast as they could, as they did, he saw Sophia being carried by her dad, but lost track of them between all the scared people.

Suddenly, someone pushed him and made him fall, separating him from Lori. Some people kicked and stepped on him before he managed to get up.

“Mom?” he asked when he stood, looking up just to see that none of the people there were his mom or Shane. “Mom!”

Desperate to find them, Carl started being pushed by the people that tried to escape from the place, but he didn't stopped moving until someone pushed him too hard and made him headbutt a car’s door. He whined, rubbing his nose and noticing that the door was slightly open.

Without thinking about it, he got on, closing and locking the door so no one from outside would open it. He curled over himself and hugged his legs, his sobs being muffled by the pained screams and inhuman growls that started being heard.

He didn't knew how, maybe it was because of exhaustion, but he managed to fall asleep thinking on what his mom had told him once.

_‘If you ever get lost, I want you to stay where we got separated, no matter what, stay there, I will find you.’_

With that in mind, Carl started to fall asleep. He didn't had to worry, this was just like the time he got lost all  the mall, he just had to stay there and wait, Lori and Shane would find him. Everything was gonna be okay.

Before closing his eyes, he saw a postcard from Atlanta on the floor.

  
“Goodnight Atlanta” he whispered before falling asleep. At some point of the night, the screams finally stopped.


	2. Lost Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Child, Child, where are you going  
> Oh do not walk so fast.  
> Speak child, speak your mind out  
> Or else you'll be lost and wild.

Days passed by slow, monotonous, boring. Carl was still in that car in which he had hidden when everything started, he was still alone and really terrified because of that, but it wasn't the normal level of fear --the typical  I don't know where my mom is \-- no, it was a much higher level of fear, a feeling nor child that young should experience: the fear of knowing that something bad, really bad, could happen to him and that no one was gonna be there to help him.

 

The first two days weren't like that, he stayed in the car until the hunger was too much, for what he started to look for something to eat. First he was just checking on the cars near his hiding place, but he just found a bag of chips and a half empty bottle of water, but then he wanted to venture a little more, walking until he found a group of what looked like people.

 

At first, a sense of relief flooded him as he began to approach those people who, for some reason, had their backs turned on him.

 

“Hey!” He said when he was about two meters from a woman. “Hey lady, could you help me? I lost my mom and I do not know where-”

 

He didn't got time to say much more, he was only a few steps away from the woman when she --like the others-- turned to see him. Only then Carl realized the state of these people: they were all covered with blood, with wounds and bites everywhere. From a closer observation, they weren't people, they were walking corpses.

 

Completely shocked, Carl gave some steps away when the woman approached him. The poor kid screamed when he turned and felt the cold hand of that person --no, the hand of that  thing \-- touching him. Fortunately, Carl walked faster before that monster could tighten his grip on his shoulder and he ran as fast as his legs let him, going back to the car and closing and locking himself in there for three more days.

 

He stayed sitting on the middle of the seat, hugging his legs and trying to cry as low as he could. After a couple of hours, he didn't had tears left, but he was still sobbing and whimpering, because he was alone, it had been fine days and Lori nor Shane has gone back to look for him, and the worst part was that those creatures were out there and that it they saw him, they would try to catch him again.

 

The noise of someone or something walking outside made him remember that he had to be quiet, that he had to stop crying, if he didn't, whatever that was outside would hear him and --if it was one of those monsters-- they were going to go and get him. His childish mind had got to the conclusion that strangers weren't a good option either, his mom and dad had always told him not to go or talk to strangers, Carl suspected that the monsters topic hadn't made people nicer.

 

Sinning of childish curiosity, Carl poked his head out to see through the window and what he saw made that, at least for a moment, his innocence came back to him.

 

Carl jumped in place when the dog jumped over a car and sniffed around. The kid opened the door and the animal's ears pointed to his direction instantly.

 

“Hey doggy” He said softly as he moved down the car. “Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm good.”

 

He moved closer until he was standing in front of the dog, who had jumped down that car and was now walking to him slowly.

 

Carl didn't needed to lean down for his hand to be at the dog's nose height, he was slightly worried that the animal wouldn't trust him and would try to bite him, but he didn't showed how scared he was and, fortunately, the dog didn't attacked him, they simply smelled his hand. Carl smiled and touched their head carefully.

 

“You're a good dog, right?” He said, smiling. “Are you a boy or a girl? I can't really tell.”

 

As if they wanted to answer his question, the dog sat down in front of him and raised one of his lower legs to scratch his neck. Thanks to this movement Carl managed to notice two things: the first thing was that the dog was a girl, and the second was that it looked like the collar she had on appeared to be too tight.

 

“Does that collar hurts you?” He asked, moving his hand closer carefully, in case that the animal tried to bite him. When he touches the dog’s neck, Carl felt her stiffen, so he scratched her neck over the collar. “Easy buddy, I'm just trying to help.”

 

It was a relief that the dog didn't got more nervous and tried to attack him, giving Carl time to take the collar of. He noticed there was a name on the leather.

 

“Re-Reyna” he read. “That's your name, Reyna? It's a cute name.”

 

He smiled as Reyna waved her tail and, not having more use for that collar, he threw it away.

 

The dog in front of him scratched her neck again and then started to walk away, sniffing the floor.

 

“Hey, don't go! Where are you going?” Carl gave some steps closer to the animal, but he stopped and turned to see the cat that had been his safe place for days.

 

He couldn't leave, if his mom and Shane came back to look for his and he wasn't there, they would never find him. But, on the other side, maybe he could go and look for them, there was nothing good there anyway, just cars and --sometimes-- monsters.

 

Carl took a deep breath and turned his sight back to the dog, running behind her  when he noticed she was pretty far. He followed her and got surprised of how the animal managed to find food just using her nose to sniff.

 

“Buddy, I wish I have your nose” He said, it was slightly worrying how Carl talked to the dog, as if she was gonna answer him, as if she was a person. But Carl didn't cared about doing it, five days alone had made him desperate to talk to someone, even if it was a dog.

 

He followed the dog for a good amount of time, too much that she got quickly used to to his presence and was walking slower, which helped Carl not to her tired so fast. The animal ended up guiding the kid out of the road and to a construction zone which was beside the forest.

 

It was starting to get dark and Carl walked with his hands pressed against his belly, he was hungry and tired of walking, his feet were killing him. His stomach growled and he saw the dog turn to look at him.

 

“Hey buddy, can you smell if there's food around?” He asked and sighed when the dog just kept walking. “I guess that can be a yes or a no.”

 

Not having any more options, Carl kept following Reyna. After all, that was the best way of finding his mother.

 

~o~

 

Time passed in a blink of an eye, it was a matter of seeing himself in the dirty and broken mirror of an old car for him to notice that he was no longer the ten years old child that he was when he lost it all, how much time had passed? He was almost sure that it have been some months, maybe even years, months or years in which he hadn't seen another person, not counting the walkers --that's how he decided to call those creatures, it was a better nickname than  monsters \--.

 

While looking at himself in that mirror he took notice of other things, his hairs was longer and dirtier, so dirty that when he ran his hand through it some dust fell. He was surprised when he found himself not caring too much about it, the world had gone to Hell, he couldn't keep worrying about things like having his hair short and clean.

 

They were back at the road, yes,  they  were at the road. It wasn't just Carl and Reyna anymore, now there were more dogs, Carl knew all of them, but he never counted how much they were, he was sure that they were almost ten, maybe twelve, a big pack.

 

Carl sat against a car and let them walk around, sniffing the cars and fighting each other for the food they could find, it was winter and the things were starting to get ugly, food was scarce and --even if the walkers moved slower-- they moved in Nigeria groups.

 

In moments like that, Carl was starting to question why he kept going, it was pointless, probably his mother and Shane were dead, walking around and eating other people. He looked on his pocket and took out the pocket knife that he always had with his, it's principal uses were opening cans and killing walkers, which was why it was the only thing he always kept clean.

 

He lifted his sleeve up and let the blade touch his skin, he moved it from his wrist to his inner elbow, slightly touching the skin and not daring to put the minimum pressure that was needed to cut skin.

 

He took the knife back to his wrist and presses the sharp tip, a small and slim strong of blood started coming down his arm and a sole blood drop touched the ground before he took the blade away from his arm, the reason? The dogs were running on his direction and past him, escaping from something.

 

Carl stood up when he heard and saw the group of walkers that was coming on his direction. His plan was to run away, following the dogs, until he heard the known barks and he turned to face the hoard. Reyna was in front of the walkers, barking and growling at them as she walked backwards, trying in vain to intimidate creatures that were no longer able of feeling fear.

 

“Reyna, come here!” he yelled, but she wasn't paying attention to him. “Come on Reyna, please!”

 

He tightened his grip on his knife and ran to her, getting to stab the head of a walker that was too close to her. His pocket knife got trapped between the rotten flesh and the skull and Carl decided to leave it there, he had no time to take it out. He picked Reyna up and ran on the same direction that the other dogs had and he didn't stopped until they did, he let himself fall on his ass on the ground with Reyna still on his arms, hugging her tightly.

 

“Dammit, what were you doing?! You could have died!” he yelled to the dog, who looked at him lowering her ears. “Don't do that again, do you want to get killed?! Stupid dog!”

 

Carl let her go when he felt tears coming down his face, Reyna stayed close, walking around him and sniffing everything. That, for Carl, wasn't fair, he shouldn't be subjected to that kind of stuff, he should be with his family, going to the school, not killing walking dead people and talking with dogs as if they were gonna talk back to  him.

 

He stood with shaky legs thinking that was the worst part: the fact that he talked with dogs. He clenched his fist and kept following the animals and promised that he wouldn't do it anymore, after all it wasn't as if they could understand or answer him, there had to be better ways of communicating with dogs.

 

He looked at one of the smaller dogs --who was smelling his dirty pants-- and, out of curiosity, he growled at them. The first attempts didn't work, but after a couple of times he managed to let out a growl that made the dog look up, flatten their ears and walk away respectfully. Carl smiled, that was an advance.

He was relieved when the dogs found a blueberry bush. He kneeled in front of it and started eating, as he did, he noticed that the dogs practically ripped the leaves and branches with the berries, while he ate two or three per time. He decided that it was a waste of time and started grabbing handfuls of the berries and ripping them out of the bush to eat without worrying about the leaves that went into his mouth --he almost couldn't taste them at the moment--, he neither worried about the small cuts and scratches the branches were making on his hands and wrists, he just kept eating, just like the dogs were doing it.


	3. Back to Humanity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He couldn’t take it anymore  
> But he kept running for a soft place to fall.  
> And he was running far away, would he run far enough someday?

Winter has come and, like every year since the world had gone to hell, it was hard to find supplies, the scavenge groups had to go further to find medicine, clothes, food and everything that they might need.

 

A small camp had been established on the outskirts of a city, the camp had a truck parked among some trees which has a thin chain with cans tied to it. That way, the campers could sleep without worrying about being attacked by surprise, at least not by the undead.

 

Into the truck, the two girls from the scavenge group slept while the four men were outside, scattered around a campfire whose flames were slowly dying out due to the humid wind that was blowing. Before the sun had managed to rise, the youngest of the men received a kick in the ribs, a kick that woke him up and left him breathless.

 

“Get up, you little shit, I'm gonna kick your little ungrateful ass!” Joe --the man that had just kicked him-- said. “Do you think it's funny to steal from me?! Let's see if it's still funny once I cut your hands off!”

 

The younger man stood as straight as he could and dodged one of the other man's punches, which looked like it had just made Joe more angry. “I stole nothing!” he yelled, rubbing his kicked ribs while he backed away, the others had woke up and were just looking at what was happening.

 

“Besides being a thief, you're a fucking liar!”

 

“What the  hell  is going on here?!” Everyone turned their heads to looked at the two women that were climbing down the truck. Arat --who was in charge of all of them-- was the one that had asked the question, and who was now looking at them with a frown and her arms crossed. “When I ask something, I expect an answer.”

 

“This motherfucker stole my cigarettes!” Joe accused almost instantly, pointing at the younger man like a kindergarten kid would do if another child stole his favorite pencil.

 

Arat’s sight went to the boy, who had cold sweat coming down his forehead. “Is that true, James?”

 

“No, I stole nothing, I don't even smoke and I was sleeping” He assured “He has no proof!”

 

Joe looked at him with a really prominent frown and his teeth clenched. “I don't need proof to know that you're the only one here that would steal from me!”

 

“Hey guys” The other girl in the group, Laura, spoke loud enough to caught their attention. “I think the thief came from outside.”

 

She was holding one of the chains with the cans, which --giving it a closer look-- had obviously been broken by some animal. Everyone went to inspect that.

 

“It could have been a raccoon” One of the men said.

 

“A racoon comes in here while y'all sleep, makes a lot of sound with the cans and none of you notice?” Arat huffed. “Good job guys, you're some pro survivors.”

 

“It wasn't a racoon, look” James pointed down at some footprints on the wet ground. “They're too big. I think it was a dog or maybe a coyote.” The young man noticed everyone was looking at him, incredulously. “What? You burn the books to light the fire, I read them.”

 

“I don't care if it's a coyote, a dog, or a fucking alien” Joe growled, grabbing his things. “We're gonna follow it and I'm gonna shoot the motherfucker.”

 

James thought that the man was gonna punch him when he saw him approaching to him, reason why he stiffened when he felt Joe's hand on his shoulder.

 

“You know about tracking footprints, so you're gonna come with me and help me find that flea bag!” He said and, ignoring Arat telling him to come back, Joe started walking, James being pulled by him. After some minutes, Laura joined them.

 

Joe was obviously mad, he wouldn't stop cursing and getting his hand close to his belt to reach for his gun each time he thought he had seen something, which ended up being nothing each time. The old and ransacked building gave the place a terrifying aura; that, and the fact that a group of undead could come out of nowhere and attack them was only serving to make the three of them more nervous.

 

“Joe, this is a really bad idea” James walked behind the man and Laura. “How are we going to find whatever that took your cigarettes?”

 

“If you keep complaining like a fucking…” It was obvious that Joe had been about to say  pussy,  but when Laura scoffed loudly he changed the word. “...Like a coward faggot, I'm gonna use  you  as bait for  whatever  that might approach us.”

 

James gulped and stayed silent. He was new, he couldn't go around fighting, the others had just started considering him  Negan  and letting him have a gun. He wasn't going to risk everything because of a stupid argument.

 

They were about to give up and go back with the others, but unfortunately Joe saw a pack of cigarettes on the wet ground --completely ruined-- and recognized them as his. The good side, for Joe, was that the cigarettes had fallen in line, which gave them somewhere to go to.

 

The  trail  \--to call it somehow-- took them to a building. Once they were inside, Laura and Joe took their guns out, ready to shoot at whoever or whatever came their way. But, there weren't walkers in there; even if there wasn't a door to prevent them from getting in.

 

The place had been completely ransacked, the walls had holes and plants were growing from them, the odor of humidity was unbearable, but James seemed to be the only one that was bothered because of it.

 

The sound of an animal's hurried footsteps on the other floor made them look in the direction of the old stairs. James was about to go upstairs when Laura stopped him.

 

“You stay here, kid” She said, getting him out of the way. “Make sure no walkers come in.”

 

Both adults went upstairs and James stayed on the staircase, switching sights between the exit and the other floor.

 

“There’s the damn dog” He heard Joe's saying and then he heard a growl, but it wasn't an animal growl.

 

When he turned to raise his voice and ask what was going on, he got pushed towards the stairs rail and almost fell to the other side, but he managed to keep his balance. He looked to the exit at the same moment that the person that had pushed him ran out of the building, Joe and Laura came downstairs quickly.

 

“Don't stay there, let's follow the bastard!” Joe yelled, pulling him outside.

 

They had to chase the guy to the forest, since shooting in the city would have been too risky. Since he was younger, James was ahead of his companions and managed to get to the forest seconds after the guy did.

 

After a pursuing the stranger for a good while, James tackled the guy, taking notice of some things: the first thing was that their clothes and skin were covered with dirt and blood, the next thing was that it was a boy --maybe a couple of years younger than him-- with long hair, a boy who suddenly kicked his stomach, leaving James breathless and getting up to go back to running away.

 

“Stupid brat, you should have broke his legs or somethin’!” Joe yelled at him, standing beside him and taking his gun out.

 

The sound of the gun’s safety being removed made James get up quickly.

 

“Don't shoot!” He pushed the gun down, but he wasn't fast enough to prevent Joe from shooting the boy. At least he shot him in the leg and not in the head like he had been willing to.

 

James watched breathlessly as the boy ran some more feet before falling to the ground, blood coming down his left legs as he screamed in pain. In the meantime, Joe was laughing and walking to the boy.

 

“Don't shoot him yet, Joe, I wanna see him!” Laura said as she ran past James.

 

Both elders were beside the boy, Joe kicked him on the ribs, making him turn and look up at them.

 

“It's just a kid” Laura said with mockery “Is this the guy that tackled and bit you?” You're a pussy, Joe.”

 

The older man frowned and kicked the boy again. “I'm gonna kill this little bitch!”

 

“Or we could take him to the sanctuary” James said, catching their attention. “Negan said that if we didn't find something interesting, we shouldn't bother going back.”

 

Joe and Laura looked at each other and smiled, Joe grabbed the boy by the hair and started pulling him, stepping on his hurt leg every time he would struggle too much.

 

“It's time to go back home, guys!” He said with a voice so cheerful that was scary due to the situation.

 

~o~

 

The room was filled with moans and deep groans, the man's hands kept a strong grip on the hips of the beautiful woman that was straddling his hips, riding him.

 

Some knocks at the door killed the mood.

 

“I'm fucking busy!” The man yelled, making the girl ride him faster.

 

“Sir, it's important” His right hand man's voice said from the other side. “Arat, Joe and the others are back.”

 

The man on the bed huffed and told the girl to move from over him.

 

“But Negan-”

 

“I have to go be the fuckin' boss, darlin’" He said, rolling his eyes. “If you wanted to get to the end you shouldn't have played hard to get.”

 

The girl frowned and got off him, Negan stood and got dressed before opening the door.

 

“Now Simon, what the fuck is so important that I couldn't fuck my fuckin’ wife in peace?!” He growled as he looked at the man. “It must be a hell of a good reason!”


	4. Little Freak

The furious screams and the dry blows against metal echoed in the corridors of that place’s lowest levels, Negan walked beside Simon, passing by his men who for some reason were exhausted, some even had bruises and scratches. Negan frowned at them.   
  
"Let me see if I understood, a child did this to you?" He said, folding his arms and growling as he heard the shouts and blows grow stronger. "Why don't you make that little piece of trash shut up?"

 

“Mike tried” Simon said. “He's with Carson now, the kid almost bit his thumb off.”

 

Negan could not stop an incredulous laugh, his men were supposed to be rude, capable of overcoming any situation, not a group of small girls that would get intimidated by a hysterical brat. Wanting to show them they were idiots, Negan walked into the cell from which all those noises came.

 

“Hell, this little bastard is even louder than my wives!” Negan hit the door a couple of times with his baseball bat and, suddenly, who was inside stopped screaming and punching the door. “Listen here buddy, behave like a damn normal person and I might not hurt you.”

 

Confident, the leader of the group opened the door and was greeted by the darkness of the cell, he heard who was inside approaching him.

 

“Come on, move closer to the light so I can see your damn face” He said, trying to sound as nice as he could.

 

The first thing he managed to see was a good amount of dirty brunette hair covering a face that was staring at the floor and that slowly looked up and looked straight into his eyes with a cold, almost inhuman look.

 

"Just look at you, what a dirty little bast-FUCK." Before Negan could finish the sentence, the boy lunged at him with enough strength to knock him to the ground and bang his head against it, leaving him disoriented.

 

Negan blinked a couple of times trying to focus and he went wide eyed when he saw the boy holding Lucille,  his Lucille, and being about to bash her against his head. Negan was in shock, but certainly relieved when his men took the furious boy off him and immobilized him. Simon took Lucille from the ground while another of his men was pointing at the boy with a gun, but he wasn't intimidated by this.

 

“Just say it, boss, and the bastard dies” Instead of being ordered to end the boy's life, the men were surprised to hear Negan laugh loudly. The man sat up and rubbed the back of his neck before standing up.

 

“Hell, this little crazy shit is strong!” He clapped a couple of times. “I'm surprised, put the gun down Dwight. You, put him back in the cell.” Negan looked at a small pool of blood coming from the boy's leg. "Cuff him and call Carson to check that shit, but cover his mouth, I do not want him to bite anyone" He noticed that his men were still surprised by what happened. "Are you fucking deaf? I gave you orders!"

 

When he raised his voice, his men nodded and did as they were told. Negan grabbed Lucille from Simon’s hands and started walking back to the upper levels, his right hand man following him.

 

“Boss, may I ask why didn't you killed the kid?” The man wanted to know, Negan grinned.

 

“You see Simon, it's obvious that the little shit is out of my is mind, I might have done a lot of shit, but I don't kill people with mental illness” He said, shrugging before he grinned wider. “Where the hell is the fun in that?!”

 

Leaving the cell corridor, Negan went to talk to those who had found the boy and obviously asked them why they had brought him. Laura and Joe said they use nothing to do about it almost instantly and blamed the third, Negan looked at him.

 

“Jamie boy, I must have guessed this was your fault!”

 

The poor young man was shaking in the place, obviously terrified by what Negan could do to him. The man was unpredictable, he could be laughing and smiling while he cut someone's throat.

 

Negan stepped closer to James and patted his shoulder. "Boy, that damn gift you brought me was very pleasing to me, keep it up being this useful and you'll get far."

 

He winked an eye at him before walking away, swinging Lucille around and whistling happily. Laura and Joe pushed James out of the way when they left to go and rest after the long run.

 

The compound leader went to his room and pulled out his radio. "Dwight, move your ass and get someone to take food to the brat, I do not want him to starve and stink all over the place." After giving the order, Negan went to see his wives, maybe he still had time to fuck at least one of them.

 

Negan's order was relegated among the man, none of them wanting to risk their well being in going to feed the  crazy child,  since if they did, they would have to stay inside the cell, take the cuffs off him and wait until he finished eating or feed him themselves, thing they didn't wanted to do either because one of them had already lost half a thumb when he got his hand too close to the boy's mouth.

 

Finally, there was someone who was willing to get him the food   
  


"Knock knock," the man said as he went into the cell, behind him another man walked in with his gun in his hand. Both of them were much more relaxed when they noticed the kid was handcuffed and sat on the ground.

 

“Be quick and give him the plate, David” The one that was holding the gun said. “This little shit is creepy.”

 

“It's just a kid” The one with the food, David, smiled carefree.

 

“Well, this  kid  almost ripped Mike's thumb off!”

 

“If you're a coward, wait outside.”

 

The one with the gun huffed and went to wait outside. David sat down on the ground cross legged in front of the boy, looking down at the bloodied bandages around his leg.

 

"That must have hurt," he said, ignoring the murderous look the boy gave him as he set the plate down in front of him. "I'm sure you're hungry, now, we can do this in two ways: I can take off your handcuffs and you can eat on your own, or I'll have to feed you."

 

The only response he received was a growl that let him see the boy's clenched teeth.

 

"We’ll get nowhere with that attitude" David stood and walked until he was behind the boy, noticing his attention stuck in each of his movements.

 

The man outside stiffened as he heard the echo of the wives falling to the floor, peering into the cell to see the boy crawling away from David as he rubbed his wrists and growled at both of them, switching glares between them.

 

“Did you took the handcuffs off?! Is his dementia contagious or something?!”

 

“Stop raising your voice, you're gonna scare him” David scolded him, he kept his voice low. “Come on boy, it's just a sandwich, it isn't poisoned or anything.”

 

To confirm his words, David tore off a piece of the sandwich and ate it, putting the plate back on the floor. Both men watched as the boy approached cautiously, grabbed the sandwich, and hurried back to the corner of the cell. In the dim light, they couldn't see him well, but they heard him chew.

 

“There, good boy” David smiled and stood up. “See? It's not that complicated, he’s just a kid.”

 

“Whatever, he already ate, handcuff him and let's leave.”

 

David cuffed him again and said goodbye to the boy, who just ignored him. He then went out of the cell.

 

~o~

 

Two weeks passed before Negan recalled that he had a crazy boy who ate his supplies in the cells. By that time, every man and woman in the sanctuary was informed about the new acquisition of Negan, the boy they all called  The Boss's Dog, since no one knew his name or cared enough to think of one.

 

Negan was whistling again through the cell corridor, having already been informed of when the boy was fed so he could go and see. He leaned against the door and watched as David and James were inside the cell, staring at a pitch black corner.

 

“Are you guys high? The hell are you lookin' at?” He asked, making the two men turn to see him.

 

“The boy is eating” James said with a low voice. Staying in silence for a moment, Negan managed to hear the sound of someone chewing coming from that corner. He laughed and walked in.

 

“Why the fuck is he eatin' there? Get the hell out of the corner, brat!” Negan's tone was loud as he approached the corner where the boy was unconsciously cornering himself.

 

“Boss, I don't think you should-”

 

“Shut the fuck up, David” Negan was right in front of the boy. He had cornered him completely. “Hey crazy brat, what ya eatin’?”

 

Negan stretched an arm and was going to touch the boy's hair, wanting to move it out of the way so he could see his face, not noticing that the lock was very close to his face and that, besides, the boy didn't wanted to be touched. The other two men had to pull Negan away from the boy when, after he bit his arm hard enough to break the flesh, Negan tried to strangle him.

 

“I want this little shit gagged and handcuffed, let it starve to death!” He yelled to both David and James before stomping out of the cell, moments later, more men came in to do as Negan had said

 

James left the cell with David, both walked away and, once he made sure no one would hear them, James spoke. “I told you not to talk shit about Negan with the kid!” he whisper-yelled at David who, for some reason, was struggling not to laugh.

 

“How was I going to know he was gonna bite him? I just tried to warn the brat.”

 

"You're lying" David turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. "I do not know what you're plotting, but stay away from the boy, he's just a kid and he's not mentally stable, don't make things worse."

 

David looked at him, surprised at first, and laughed. “Shit kid, you finally grew a pair of balls!” He approached dangerously. “But you should save your opinion to yourself if you want to keep-”

 

“The hell is going on here?” Both of them looked at Simon, who was approaching them through the hallway.

 

“Nothing sir, I was just telling Jamie that's better to keep his mouth shut sometimes.”

 

Simon looked at both of them suspiciously and then fixed his sight on James. “Come with me, I need help with the baits.”

 

James didn't needed to be told twice, he walked away and outside with Simon, where at the other side of the fence, the baits were fighting the dead.

 

“I know you're new” Simon suddenly spoke. “But you already should know that there's people here you better don't hang around, David is one of them.”

 

“Why? What did he do?”

  
“More like what did he  tried  to do” Simon corrected. “Just stay away from him and hopefully you'll never understand why you have to. Now, let's get the baits in, it's getting dark.”


	5. The Bite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What full lips you have.  
> They're sure to lure someone bad.

Negan's order was fulfilled, a little questioned, but still fulfilled. Days passed and the cell’s door didn't opened, no one came in to bring the boy food or to even check if he was still alive. He was laying on the ground, in fetal position close to the door, wanting to take advantage of that thin line of light that sneaked under the door and that allowed him to see the people that walked outside. That was enough to keep him from going crazier.

 

If he had remembered how to count, he would have said that it was the fourth or fifth day that he spent without eating, it was surprising how good he was taking it. He knew how to stay alive with no food, that's why he was the way was: immobile, just breathing and blinking; the only time he made an effort was to reach the bucket that served him as a toilet, although there was not much to defecate or urinate on an empty stomach.

 

That night, the hallway’s lights turned on earlier than usual. This woke Carl -who had finally managed to fall asleep- up, and he growled weakly against the gag as he saw a pair of feet walk and stop in front of the door, he moved away from the door when the owner on those feet started trying to open it. He heard how the guy dropped the keys and cursed between clenched teeth before picking them up and finally and finally managing to open the door.

 

Carl closed his eyes tightly when the cell lightened with the hallway’s light, five days in darkness and suddenly being exposed to that much light wasn't something enjoyable. When his eyes finally got used to the light, the boy looked up, seeing David in front of the door. The mad had a face of disgust, probably because of the smell that was in there: A mixture between the smell of excrement, urine and human sweat that had been concentrated in there for almost six days.

 

“Hell kid, you're definitely hard to kill” He said as he locked the door again, leaving the cell in darkness again.

 

He felt the man's hands on his shoulders, moving him so he would sit up. Carl's eyes got used to the dark again and he saw David knelt in front of him, but he didn't looked up at his face, he stared at the man's chest, even though it was more as if he was trying to see through him. His stomach growl and the sound echoed into the cell.

 

“I can tell you're really hungry” Carl felt his hand on his hair and if he hadn't been gagged, he would have probably bit David. There was something on the man's voice they he didn't liked, he could have lost his mind long ago, but he wasn't stupid. A growl muffled by the gag left his lips and his eyes widened in surprise when David pulled his hair. “Don't growl at me, I'm your friend, remember? We're friends.”

 

Carl growled again, but a little lowly, almost unheard. It was still enough for David to frown.

 

“You should be more thankful. I shouldn't be here, I should be sleeping, stay out of trouble and let what Negan wants happen happen” He hooked the boy's chin to make him look up. “He's the bad guy here, he wants you to stay here and starve. I'm trying to be good, but I can't just do this without getting something in exchange. I need you to do something for me.”

 

David was talking a little too fast, between nervous and excited. Carl almost didn't understood what he said, the only thing his brain manages to process was Negan's bad. But he knew something else had been said when he felt one of David's fingers touching the gag, right over his lips. The man's thumb caressed his lower lip before his hand moved away and to his cheek, and got two fingers under the gag, going back to touch his mouth.

 

The boy pressed his lips together when he felt the finger in front of his mouth, he would have growl if that wouldn't have meant that he would have to open his mouth. Eventually his face got tired and his jaw relaxed, causing that finger to pass his lips and go into his mouth, followed by a second digit.

 

He tried to pull away, but David moved closer and Carl felt his back touching the wall, just like it had happened with Negan, he was cornered. He didn't wanted to be touched, nor he wanted to be touched and he sure as hell didn't wanted to have David's fingers into his mouth.

 

Panic and anger made the boy act by instinct. His jaws closed around David's fingers with enough strength for the boy to taste blood. David let out a pain filled scream and a trail of curses as the boy's teeth sank in his flesh. He raised his fist before starting to punch Carl in the face, but it wasn't enough to get him to let go, he just got the boy to twist his head and bite even harder.

 

“Son of a bitch!” He screamed as he gave the boy a punch strong enough to throw him to the ground. The problem was that the boy's jaw clenched and his teeth sank even more to the point his teeth touched bone and this, due to how David was trying to pull away, broke.

 

David fell on his ass, holding the hand that now lacked of two of his fingers and was letting out a lot of blood. The man was crying in pain and cursing as he stood and kicked the boy before rushing out of the cell.

 

Carl groaned because of the kick, but he was more concentrated in trying to caught the fingers and the blood -which was part his part David's- out of his mouth.

 

Rubbing his face against the ground, he managed to move the gag enough for the fingers to fall one by one out of his mouth. He coughed as he took some deep breaths and crawled away from the fingers. The door was locked again, just a thin line of light coming in from under the door, but Carl felt too weak to go back there.

 

~o~

 

Negan was furious, he couldn't believe he had been disobeyed in such a way. His order had been simple: let the fucking brat that had bit him starve to death in that cell. But no, there was always someone that had to disobey him. If now David for rabies or some weird infection, he would have to fuck himself, Negan wasn't going to move a finger to save his ungrateful life.

 

The saviour's leader walked through the cell hallway again, glancing down at his arm, because of that damn kid he had to get a rabies shot and stitches.

 

He went to the cell and Dwight was already there waiting for him, just like he had ordered. The man looked sickened, pale; Negan stood in front of him, leaving some steps between them because Dwight looked like he was going to throw up in any moment.

 

“You checked if he was still alive like I told you?” He asked and Dwight just nodded. It was weird, the man normally responded verbally when Negan spoke to him.

 

Negan let him be and went to the cell’s door, Dwight handed him the key -which still had some blood on it- and opened the door. His expression changed to one of pure disgust when he smelt the scent into the cell: now it smelt like excrement, urine, human sweat and blood. It the corner that looked like the cleanest one was the boy, still handcuffed and gagged. Negan frowned when he saw this.

 

“You gagged him again?” He asked Dwight, the man shook his head.

 

“No sir, he was already like that when I got here” he long haired man went into the cell. “He doesn't moves.”

 

Negan thought for a moment, his hand caressing Lucille's handle as he held her with both hands.

 

“Bring him some water” He ordered Dwight and when the man left to do as he was told, Negan walked further into the cell and, ignoring the horrid smell, he moved closer to the boy, touching him with his boot. “Hey brat, move.”

 

He frowned when there was no answer and he stepped on him with a little more strength, right over the left the leg the boy had got shot in. He saw him move this time and took his boot away.

 

“Good boy, you didn't died in almost a week, don't fuckin’ die on me now” He knelt at the boy's height, keeping some space between them just in case the little bastard tried to do him the same he had done to David. He touches the gag’s side cautiously, frowning when he noticed it was well adjusted, there was just enough space to get one or two fingers under it. Even so, David had said that the gag had moved from over the boy's mouth and that was how the boy had managed to bite two of his fingers off, that made no sense, the blood on the gag and how adjusted it was contradicted David's story completely.

 

Just then Negan noticed that the boy was staring at him, as if he was waiting for him to do something. He blinked so slow that it was scary.

 

“Shit kid, you're fucking creepy” he got up when he heard the echo of Paul's steps coming back. The man appeared in front of the door with the bottle of water Negan had told him to bring. “Good, now fucking help me make him drink.”

 

It was hard, first Negan had to hold the boy's head against the wall while Dwight took the gag off and made him drink. There was no way Negan would get his hands that close to the boy's mouth, he had already got bit by him, next time he was gonna smash his head with Lucille.

 

Once the boy was hydrated and gagged again, Negan got up, grabbed Lucille and was about to walk out when he felt something squishy under his foot, he moved it and saw what he had just stepped on: a finger.

 

“Disgusting” he said and kicked the ripped digit, noticing the other one some feet away, close to the bucket that served as a toilet. He took his radio and called Simon. “Find people who are willing to feed my crazy brat and clean his cell. It'll be ten points for each person that comes to help. Be careful with who you send, or the next one that'll loose his fuckin’ fingers will be you.”

 

Negan didn't gave Simon time to say anything, he out the radio back on his belt and looked at the boy on the ground before turning to see Dwight. “Make sure he doesn't stays alone with anyone, got it? I don't want more fingerless people.”

 

“What are you gonna do, boss?” The man asked, noticing Negan was angry.

 

“I have to go and talk to David about his accident” Negan left and walked to the infirmary, where David was still being treated. He walked in to see Carson was gonna take the bandages off his hand and stitch him up. “Don't you fuckin' dare, doc” he said as he kept the door open. “Get the hell out of here Carson, I have to talk with this poor soul.”

 

Carson said nothing, he walked out quickly and closes the door behind himself. David looked at Negan, though he looked more like he was looking through him, the guy was high as a kite on painkillers. That just made Negan wish to punch him, but no, there was no pleasure on punching an asshole that would probably not remember what had happened. Once he was sober, Negan was going to beat the crap out of him.

 

“Well David, I've got a lot of versions of what happened to your fingers” He pointed at the bandaged hand. “And when I went to check, I noticed something really fuckin’ weird: the boy was gagged. Do you know how that happened? No one went in after you did.”

 

“I… I gagged him! Yes, I did” David had a stupid smile on his face and Negan had to grip Lucille's handle and mentally count to ten so he wouldn't raise his beloved bat and break his skull.

 

“So, he took the gag off, bit two of your fingers off, and you took the time to gag him again before coming here so you wouldn't bleed out?” It was obvious that Negan didn't believe that crap, but he was good at pretending. “What a good, responsible man! I wish I had more men like you here, any other whiny bitch would have come here right away, but you even locked the door. Good fucking job.”

 

Negan walked out of Carson's office and the fake smile dropped when he closed the door. He turned to see the doctor.

 

“Don't you dare stitch, change the bandages or give him more painkillers, git it?” Carson nodded quickly. “Good, once he's not high anymore, let me know.”

 

“Why, sir?”

 

He had been about to leave, but he turned to talk to him again. “It's not your damn business, just obey, or what? You want to loose your fingers too?”

 

“No sir, I'm sorry, I'll do what you said” he assured him quickly. Negan grinned and left, going to check on his wives to see if any of them was in the mood for some sex. He needed to relieve some frustration.

 

~o~

 

Some hours passed before Carl was taken back into the cell. While he was outside, some men had managed to clean him up and dress him with other clothes. Dwight was there at all moment, telling them to be quicker or telling them to be careful when he noticed they were being too rough. The boy might have been a crazy little shit and a stranger, but he was still a kid and if Sherry knew he was letting someone treat a kid like shit, she would castrate him personally.

 

The boy was really upset and angry after the bath -If that could be called a bath, they had just used a hose and some soap- and they had to let him in the cell for a while so he would calm down before letting someone go in and feed him.

 

Dwight's surprise was big when he saw that the only person that had offered to feed the brat was María, an already old woman, almost on her sixties even if she said she was younger, a little short and weak. The man had just seen her working on fixing or sewing clothes for Negan's wives.

 

“You sure you wanna do this, ma'am?” He asked. “He's pretty aggressive.”

 

“That's because none of you knows how to deal with him” Dwight was surprised to be talked like that. He watched her walk into the cell with a tray of food. “Hello young man, I hope you're hungry.”

 

She knelt in front of the boy and smiled at him warmly, almost motherly. She left the tray aside and her hand went to the gag, stopping when he growled at her. Waiting until he got used to her presence, which took them some minutes.

 

“Do it quick” Dwight said from the doorway.

 

“And end up like that other man? No thanks, I need my fingers to fix clothes” She said before her attention went back to the boy. She grabbed the tray and started feeding him with what everyone on the lowest levels was going to eat that day, which was mac and cheese. The boy ate with a suspicious look on his face, but once he tasted the food, he started cooperating with María. “Why does he gets such a small portion?”

 

“That's enough to keep him alive” Dwight answered.

 

“Alive, but unable to do anything” She claimed with a frown.

 

“Those are Negan's orders.”

 

María didn't responded, she finished feeding the boy and stood up. Dwight called another man to gag the boy.

 

“Tell Negan that the only thing he's gonna get feeding him this and just once a day is a boy that will be too weak to even get up and will just be a waste of supplies for him” She scolded before leaving with the now empty tray. Dwight was shocked that she talked to him like that.

  
Once the boy was gagged again, the cell’s door locked and didn't opened again at any time during the day. Dwight would have told Negan that everything went well if it wasn't because the man was busy having sex with one of his wives. He definitely didn't wanted to go and face the possibility of finding his ex wife there, so he just decided to wait.


End file.
